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Gerald Wright
Gerald Wright was the ninth Council Premier of Daravia. He was an advocate of empowering wealthy non-aristocrats to match the feudal nobility, but his legacy today is dominated by his inability to react effectively to the Sunicar Revolutionary War. Early life Gerald was born to a politically minded family in 266 DR. His father, Edmund, had pivoted from a scribe to become a lawyer, and was hoping to establish a political legacy in his wake. Gerald received an elite education, both from apprenticing at his father's office and from attending a highly ranked academy in Castleton. After graduating, Gerald began practicing law. Due to his inexperience, he was usually assigned to relatively minor cases, but he quickly demonstrated a flair for rhetoric. Gerald considered pursuing law as his sole career for some time, but - partly at his father's urging - opted to run for parliament in 293. This proved to be a highly successful maneuver, and Gerald joined the Council as a representative of Manitac. Parliamentary career Knowing he was passing up a lucrative law career to pursue politics, Gerald immediately pushed for a wider slate of privileges for wealthy artisans and professionals; one of the most dramatic measures was his call for "Guild Consultations," in which the leading men of commercial guilds could provide feedback on proposed laws that would affect their industries. The bill on Guild Consultations ultimately failed, but it nevertheless made evident Gerald's political leanings. By the turn of the century, Gerald had become better attuned to the wants of the parliament, and began seeking to ennoble them alongside the professional class; in 299, he was one of the authors of a law that granted the Council a portion of import taxes imposed by the Daravian state. He thus emerged as a leader of the parliament's nobilist faction and ran for Council Premier in 302. Gerald's bid was unsuccessful: the incumbent, Gordon Kannirving, was able to successfully sell himself as a centrist option between Gerald and the populist Bertram Hull. Consequently, in the 302-07 term, Gerald adopted a more aggressive stance towards Kannirving. Gordon's agenda for the term largely involved standardizing parliamentary procedure, and Gerald frequently spoke out against it, claiming that it unfairly limited the ability of parliamentarians to express themselves in debate. This view became popular among the Council, who were generally reluctant to cede power, and Gerald parlayed it into a victory over Kannirving in the 307 election. Premiership Upon taking office, Gerald sought to establish an immediate contrast from the Gordon Kannirving administration. Thus, while Gordon had aimed to pare down the elaborate nature of parliamentary dealings, Gerald increased the pomp of the Council; regalia was designed for the heads of various committees and to otherwise exceptional councilmen. This act created a sense of competition within the parliament, which Gerald intended as a means to drive its members to excellence; instead, it most commonly led to infighting and the sabotage of bills. By 310, the failings of the Regalia Act were clear, but rather than repeal his own law Gerald opted to begin acting as a mediator. He tried to resolve as many disputes as possible on his own, and urged committees to come to him rather than solve disputes on their own. This measure did little to improve the efficiency of the Council, but it made Gerald appear highly successful, allowing him to win reelection in 312 without much difficulty. In the summer of 313, the Single Sunica Liberation Front executed the Quadruple Coup, in which they captured all four of the major Sunicar city-states. The response of Daravia's aristocracy was scattered, and King Marlin IV was away in Rubinau on diplomatic business, placing Daravia at an immediate disadvantage. Gerald attempted to marshal an army, but found that he had no legal power to call one together; he proposed a bill that would allow the parliament to call armies, but it incited a lengthy debate. Gordon Kannirving, meanwhile, had returned to parliament, and was among the main opponents to the Councilman's Army Bill. The bill's final edition would fail in 316, after which Gerald gave up on revising it. Gerald's reelection campaign was severely disrupted by the death of Marlin IV; Armand I acceded as king and almost immediately surrendered to Sunica. The parliament, anxious and seeking a safe and reliable candidate, overwhelmingly elected Gordon back into the premiership in 317. Later life and legacy Ousted from the parliament, Gerald retired to life as a private citizen for several years, before arranging to be appointed as a judge in 320. He continued to live in Castleton and judge cases until he died of a stomach illness in 324. Most historians look dimly on Gerald's premiership. Critics note that he made little attempt to provide economic or material aid to Daravia throughout the Sunicar Revolutionary War, instead being consumed by the futile effort to personally command an army. Gerald's peacetime leadership, meanwhile, was dominated by an egotistical concentration of power; many of the worst excesses of the Regalia Act could have been prevented had Gerald been willing to accept his law's failure and see it repealed. The increasingly positive view towards Kannirving's parliamentary procedure acts further darken Gerald's reputation, as Gerald had been one of its most outspoken opponents. Gerald's supporters generally emphasize his skill as a lawyer and rhetorician, or argue that his advocacy for a parliament-led army would have provided a beneficial counterbalance to royal power and allowed for more military flexibility. Leon Lowmount, from the University of Eronton, depicts Gerald as a tragic figure: a gifted lawyer pushed into a political career he did not desire and for which he was unsuited. Personal life Gerald courted many women in his early adulthood, seeming reluctant to settle down, but ultimately married Arona Gold in 296. Gerald and Arona would go on to have five children, the first born in 297 and the last in 306. Gerald sought to be a highly engaged father, becoming personally involved in his children's educations, but his interactions with them on a personal level remained limited. Category:Daravians Category:Elected Officials Category:Parliament Heads